Simmons and Klosterman on death of newspapers ...

It's the 3/13 podcast.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/archive?id=2864045

Very interesting debate between the two.
I agree with Simmons on many points (unions, lack of younger columnists) but disagree with him on a few.

 

Just shut up, Bill. OK?

 

Did they talk about the astounding debt the big companies have taken on which are what is effectively killing newspapers? Cuz it's not the unions or lack of younger columnists that are doing them in.

 

Klosterman talks about how newspapers got caught up in the immediacy of reporting stories as opposed to coming out the next day with better reported, more informative, longer stories.

They both also bring up the point of why newspapers were so quick to give away their product when the internet started rolling as opposed to charging 50 cents a day like they do with the printed copy.

TSP, taking on debt was a big deal, but you have to admit unions did a good job of, as Klosterman puts it, "raise the floor for salaries." That in turn allowed for high-paying writers and, as communism taught us, not everyone will try their hardest when they know they're going to get paid.

 

Oh, yes, I forgot -- unions = communism. Those fools, working to improve their lot! They should have known it would lead to the collapse of the industry.

 

What in the fuck are you talking about?
Communism?
I repeat, what in the fuck are you talking about?

 

Simmons, on why he left the Boston Herald:

"I looked at the landscape and thought, holy crap, my God, I'm going to be 35 and I MIGHT have a chance to cover the Bruins. That's my best-case scenario right now, because nobody ahead of me is going to leave.... Is that a good thing? If somebody like me, obviously I had some talent, I left ... I knew I was never going to get a chance until I was 35 to hang out in the freakin Bruins locker room and get quotes from Ray Bourque."

 

Simmons, the guy who demanded to go from agate clerk to lead columnist at the Globe, is giving pointers on the newspaper business?

 

Hence my original post.
Believe me. The Herald didn't have a union worthy of the name. Ever.The unions didn't keep him down. The Man didn't keep him down. If I have to read one more score-settling tantrum from this dweeb, it will be too many.

 

Communism you get paid for work as much as the next guy, regardless of the job you do. Ideally, you love your job and continue to work hard. Unfortunately, humanity doesn't work that way.

The unions work to reward members for their work. Ideally, workers continue to work hard and put out a product. Some do, some don't.

At least that's my interpretation of communism. If it isn't, then my high school teacher failed me.

Seriously, this podcast deserves a listen from even the most crotchety of SportsJournalists.com members.

 

There was definitely a failure somewhere along the line. I don't know if I'd be so quick to blame some teacher in the distant past.

That's not what communism is.

 

I think he has a valid point, and I think his "hang out" was a little tongue-in-cheek.
There are a lot of good writers who churn out tremendous copy at small papers and even bigger ones but cannot move up because there are older reporters mailing it in. This doesn't happen everywhere, but it happens more than we'd like to admit.